According to current research, breeds that grow quickly often pass away before they are ready for slaughter.
A recent study found that in the UK, more than a million commercial chickens pass away each week before they are ready for slaughter.
About 64 million chickens in the UK die before their time each year, according to a study of official data by the animal protection organization Open Cages. The dead birds can be burned or processed into products like protein meal that can be used.
Better welfare standards, according to activists for animal rights, might considerably lower the mortality rates. They are pushing merchants to adopt the Better Chicken Commitment, a program to phase out fast-growing breeds and minimize stocking density.
The modern chicken is genetically developed to grow so swiftly that it can strain its body and increase the danger of cardiac arrest, according to welfare experts.
Fast-growing chickens that reach their kill weight in just 35 days may experience higher rates of mortality, lameness, and muscle disease than slower-growing varieties, according to research. Heart failure, often known as sudden death syndrome, is one of the most frequent causes of mortality in flocks.
“The shops sell food with advertisements of animals in green fields but never show broiler chickens in sheds,” said Connor Jackson, chief executive of Open Cages, the organization that created the latest research. It is disgusting that stores still carry these rapidly expanding breeds.
Better Chicken Commitment has been endorsed by all of France’s leading shops, however the biggest supermarkets in Britain have not yet joined. Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Pret, KFC, and the restaurant chain Compass Group are a few of the organizations that have supported it thus far. By March 2023, fresh chicken sold by Sainsbury’s would have been raised with 20% more room than is typical in the UK, the company stated in April.
